Contacts and committee

Email: enquiries.cotssmh@gmail.com
Twitter: @RCOT_MH
Facebook: RCOT Mental Health

Sarah trained as an Occupational Therapist at The University of Liverpool and qualified in 2001. Sarah currently works as a Senior Lecturer the University of Huddersfield and is completing a part-time PhD exploring occupational identity transitions in new mothers.

During her career she has worked in a variety of clinical areas including; elderly care, in-patient and community mental health, neuro-rehabilitation, acute medicine and surgery, A & E, pulmonary rehabilitation and cardiovascular rehabilitation.

Sarah spent 10 years designing, developing and then leading an Occupational Therapy and Psychological support service within cardiovascular rehabilitation at Salford Royal NHS Trust. Sarah has a PGDip in Research and Service Development, from Manchester Metropolitan University, a Master’s degree in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy from Salford University, a PG Certificate of Health Professional Education from The University of Huddersfield and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.  

Sarah has a passion for sharing best practice, occupational identity, peri-natal mental health, mindfulness approaches within occupational therapy and breaking down barriers between mental and physical health care. She is very excited to be a part of the Specialist Mental Health Committee for the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.  

Emma is an occupational therapist in a community based early intervention psychosis team.  Graduating from Teesside University in 2018 this is Emma’s first occupational therapy post which follows a career in the third sector, having worked for a number of local, regional and national pan-disability, learning disability and autism charities.

Emma has a long-standing specialist interest in sleep, having been a private sleep practitioner for approximately 15 years, which she has been able to uniquely utilise in her current post in developing a programme of work with community and in-patient occupational therapists for the trust for which she is employed.

Emma is a carer herself and feels passionate about enabling those who require support in having their voice heard.  As such she has volunteered extensively over 18 years in a number of roles, including as treasurer previously.  Emma is keen and proud to support the mental health specialist section and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists in this role.

I am from the Irish countryside in Donegal. I completed my occupational therapy studies in Robert Gordon University in Scotland before moving to London. I have experience working in a variety of healthcare settings.

Since qualifying, I've worked in the NHS in both inpatient and community settings. Currently I am a community perinatal occupational therapist and try share my OT journey with others through my social media. I'm hoping to really connect and communicate during my role and share the great work mental health OTs across the UK are doing; have conversations about practice and being excited about OT.   

I am currently a specialist occupational therapist working within individuals with acute and significant mental health needs within prison sector in the North East of England for Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.  

I have just been appointed Lead Occupational Therapist for:

- Health and Justice  - which covers occupational therapy within prisons and forensic community services e.g. secure outreach transitions team, specialist forensic community team)
- Secure Inpatient Services (low, medium, rehab, ASD, male, female, older adults)  

My passions are around the reduction of occupational deprivation within prisons and seclusion, and utilising model including; sensory integration, MOHO, VdT MoCA and Allen tools to improve occupational performance and quality of life.  

Abigail has been an occupational therapist for over 20 years after completing a BSc in Psychology followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy.  She completed an MSc in Mental Health Studies in 2006. Her clinical experience is in a variety of mental health settings including acute mental health care, psychiatric intensive care, forensic and community mental health. 

For the past 10 years Abigail has been working in eating disorders, initially as senior occupational therapy before taking on the Lead Occupational Therapist role alongside managing the adult eating disorders day unit. She currently focuses solely on the Lead Occupational Therapist role and works across the inpatient, day patient and outpatient teams.

Abigail is passionate about carer involvement and asserting the role of occupational therapy in the recovery journey for people with eating disorders. She represents RCOTSS-MH on the Expert Reference Group for Eating Disorders and is a member of the Quality Network for Eating Disorders committee.

Clare is a leading Specialist Occupational Therapist within the field of eating disorders, as well as a Systemic Psychotherapy Practitioner and the Co- Founder of TEDS, a private community eating disorder service. She is passionate about eating disorder recovery and for making services congruent with the needs of the clients.  

She has extensive experience of working alongside adults with eating disorders, both within in-patient, day patient and community contexts and has been a former Lead Specialist Occupational Therapist. She has conducted various eating disorder training seminars throughout her career and has also been involved in research within the field.

Clare is also trained and highly experienced in administering the Eating and Meal Preparation Skills Assessment, which is the only tool of its kind that focuses on how an individual engages in all food-related tasks. Furthermore, she is experienced in using the following theoretical approaches in practice, including DBT, CBT, Psychodynamic and Solution-Focused Therapy.  

Many years of collaborating with clients and their families in various Eating Disorder Services provided Clare not only with the insight into how life can be negatively impacted by these illnesses, but also how individuals can make a full recovery and live an amazingly meaningful life if they can access treatment which is tailored to their individual needs.

Hence, alongside a colleague, Clare was motivated to establish an eating disorder service, which aims to provide a compassionate community service for adults who are living everyday life with an eating disorder and would like to learn the skills to be able to move into their own recovery.  

Debra is a specialist community occupational therapist for Milton Keynes’s Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service. Debbie has also worked in community mental health and community addiction services, as well as brief period in community physical health.

She completed an MSC in OT (pre-reg) at Brunel University in 2014. Prior to this she worked in as a researcher in mental health and addictions. Debbie has particular interest in maternal drinking and addictions, and research.  

Debbie is very excited to be co-leading the Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Forum and is looking forward to developing and promoting the role of occupational therapy within perinatal mental health services.

Louise Cusack, Specialist Sections Manager

Email: Louise.Cusack@rcot.co.uk

I am excited to be a part of the Specialist Mental Health Committee for the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. I aim to strengthen the link between Wales' mental health services with the rest of the UK. I hold a strong belief that effective communication and shared knowledge will improve services for every service user.

I am also keen to promote the importance of research within occupational therapy for enhanced evidence-based practice.

I qualified from Cardiff University in 2011 and have specialised in mental health since 2014, with a particular interest in post-traumatic stress disorder. I worked within the mental health team at Changi Hospital in Singapore until 2017, actively involved in the addictions team. I have since completed a Master's degree in Social Science Research Methods at Cardiff University.

I am currently completing a PhD in Social Sciences comparing the occupational balance and social capital of mothers with and without postnatal depression symptomology. I volunteer with a care support team and practice part-time in a field hospital, built in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Twitter: @CavillSarah

Since qualifying as an Occupational Therapist Niamh has worked in the third sector focusing on behaviour change before moving into the NHS working firstly in physical health before commencing roles in mental health. After initially working within adult mental health Niamh has move moved into older adult mental health, however continue to have a strong interest in using outdoor sport recreations as occupations to facilitate recovery in a person’s mental health journey across their adult lifespan.

Niamh is about to complete her Post Registration Masters in Occupational Therapy which has allowed her to implement evidence based practice to more confidently promote the role of Occupational Therapy.

Niamh is excited to now share the role of the Scottish Representative for the RCOT Mental Health Specialist Section.

Twitter: @TheOutdoorsOT